


All That I'd Hoped For

by SoVeryAverageMe



Category: Mighty Ducks (Movies)
Genre: A (mostly) Modern AU, Fluff, Friendship, Gen, Growing Up and Never Growing Apart, New Years, Nostalgia, Oops I messed up the timeline a bit, Post-Canon, Trains
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-18
Updated: 2019-12-18
Packaged: 2021-02-26 06:14:54
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,377
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21845008
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SoVeryAverageMe/pseuds/SoVeryAverageMe
Summary: The Ducks lives have long gone separate ways, but that doesn't mean that they've had to grow apart. Every year, Adam, Connie, Charlie, and Dean make an effort to meet up, regardless of where they are in their lives, to ring in the New Year together.This is a story of one of those reunions.(After all, the Ducks, and all the memories therein, were the best thing they've ever known).
Relationships: Adam Banks & Charlie Conway & Connie Moreau & Dean Portman
Comments: 4
Kudos: 23
Collections: Yuletide 2019





	All That I'd Hoped For

**Author's Note:**

  * For [faithful4you](https://archiveofourown.org/users/faithful4you/gifts).



> The Mighty Ducks movies have a special place in my heart, so it was great to revisit the characters in this fic!
> 
> I sort of messed up on the timeline -- I've written it like they're in their mid-twenties, but they also have cellphones. You can choose to view it as a modern au (in which the movies actually take place in the 2000s), or that cellphones were just invented way earlier.
> 
> Hope you enjoy!

Adam stared out the window of the train, the passing scenery whizzing by as they chugged through the rural parts of Minnesota. He tapped his fingers on the seat, looking around his sleeper cabin. The bags were stacked against one corner, and he had asked the attendant to leave the upper bunk down to have more storage space.

Getting drafted into the NHL was the second best thing that had ever happened to him. This was soon followed by one of the most difficult things that he had ever done – moving halfway across the country, away from everything he’d ever known – away from _everyone_ he’d ever known.

Ten years after the _best_ thing that had ever happened to him, he was still in contact with almost the entire Ducks team, although there were a few of them that he endeavored to stay closer to than others.

It was those people that motivated him to be willing to travel cross-country by rail on New Year’s Eve.

* * *

Connie checked her watch, tapping her foot. She stood on her tiptoes, looking around the station, pulling out her phone to check the time. Charlie had texted her this morning saying that he was on his way, but the train was due to arrive in five minutes, and there was still no sign of him.

A few more minutes ticked by, and the station had started to clear out as people headed onto the platform to wait for the train to arrive. Right when she was about to give up hope and try calling him, she heard her name shouted across the lobby.

Charlie looked frazzled, duffle bag hanging off of him. With his coffee and train ticket clutched in one hand. “Did we miss it?”

“Not if we hurry!” Connie grabbed his free hand, pulling him toward the platform. They broke out into a run when they noticed how few people were left to board. By the time they reached the door, they were out of breath. The crew member who checked their tickets gave them a weird look, but they managed to be the last people to board the train at St. Paul, the door closing behind them.

* * *

Charlie held onto the seat in front of him as the train set in motion again, nearly losing a hold on his luggage. They had only bought cheap coach seats, but had planned to spend the rest of the day hanging out in Adam’s sleeper cabin, so it didn’t really matter.

“Do you remember what cabin he said he was in?” he asked.

“He mentioned his room was at one end of the train, on the upper level.”

Charlie started moving forward, making his way to the end of the train car. “I guess we’ll just have to go to one end and hope that we guess correctly.”

He felt a tap on his shoulder and looked back to see Connie smirking. “I reminded you like three times to be on time for our train.”

“I—” he paused in order to figure out how to get the door between train cars open. “My mom called this morning to make sure I had everything that needed, and I lost track of time.”

“I guess that’s an acceptable excuse,” she sighed. “But if you were any later we would have been screwed.”

“Nah,” he smiled. “It just means that we would have gotten to have a spontaneous road trip together.”

“After the disastrous one senior year?” Connie shuddered. “Never again.”

“Charlie! Connie!” They looked up to see Adam sticking his head out of a room. “I was getting worried that you two had missed the train,” he said.

Connie raised her eyebrows, giving Charlie a significant look, but didn’t say anything. He shrugged in response, “There _may_ have been some extenuating circumstances.”

“Classic Charlie.” Adam shook his head and moved out of the doorway, so that the they could squeeze into the seats across from him. “There’s not a ton of space, but you can throw your bags on top of the top bunk. We’ve got quite a few hours to waste until we get to Chicago, so you better settle in.”

* * *

Dean weaved his way through the crowds, barely avoiding photo-bombing a couple’s wedding photos. Union Station was busy, as always, but the holiday travel rush had made it even more overwhelming. Most of the people parted out of his way, due to his intimidating appearance, and his height gave him an advantage in looking for his friends over the crowds.

He saw them when they entered the lobby area from the train platform, and Dean waved them over to where he was waiting. All three of them picked up the pace when they saw him.

Once they got close enough, he picked Connie up and spun her in a circle. “You guys made it!”

“There were some close calls,” Connie laughed, after she was put down. He turned and gave hugs to Charlie and Adam, who were shaking their heads at their antics.

“Charlie?” Dean guessed.

“Hey!” Charlie crossed his arms. “I resent that.”

“But the close call was _Charlie_ , right?”

Adam swung an arm around Charlie’s shoulders. “Of course it was Charlie.”

The boy in question sputtered, before joining the rest of them in laughter.

* * *

The four of them eventually managed to make it back to Dean’s apartment, but not without almost losing Charlie, who had tripped while trying to board the train. He lived alone, having moved back to the city after graduating college in the spring.

He kicked off his shoes at the entrance and stretched his arms above his head. “Let our annual reunion officially begin!”

“We need to think of a better name.”

“You’ve been saying that for the last five years,” Connie said, leaning into Adam’s shoulder.

Dean made his way to the kitchen. He had remembered to go shopping the day before, knowing that his friends would be hungry after traveling.

Dinner was quite the affair. Adam watched from afar, knowing he’d burn down the kitchen, which didn’t stop him from having an opinion when Charlie and Connie argued the best way to prepare the side dishes. Dean let his friend’s voices wash over him while he prepared the main course.

His friends made his apartment feel a lot less empty than it normally did.

After they had all had their fill and put away the leftovers, they squished onto the couch, which was _definitely_ not built to fit four people. Charlie ended up sitting on the armrest, legs in Adam’s lap. Dean took most of the other side of the couch, with a small space carved out for Connie, who had her legs stretched out over the boys’ laps.

“Next year, we’re doing this at my place,” Adam said.

Charlie knocked his shoulder. “You’re only saying that so you don’t have to travel so far.”

“Two days alone on a train is too long,” he replied. “Plus, I met a couple of super fans in the dining car.”

“Oh, it must be _so_ hard to be a famous hockey player,” Dean teased, making exaggerated pouty faces.

Adam poked him in the shoulder, leaning into his space. This caused Charlie to lose his balance, falling onto them with a shout. The three of them get into a pseudo-wrestling match while on top of each other.

“Hey!” Connie yelled over boys, “Next year is next year. We can discuss it later, we’re just getting started here.” The four of them become quiet on the couch, letting the New Year’s Eve special play on the television.

“Next year is _tomorrow_ ,” Adam corrected quietly.

“Gosh,” Charlie said, sinking deeper into the cushions. “Can you believe how fast our lives have gone.”

“Can you believe that we’re still talking to each other?” Adam chimed in.

“Nah,” Dean said, feeling Connie lean into his chest, while Adam put his head on his shoulder, yawning. “I think we all ended up where we were supposed to be.”

By the time that midnight struck, and the new year rolled in, the four friends had long been asleep, comforted by each other’s presence on a way too small couch. None of them could imagine a better way to ring in the new year.

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading!


End file.
